Page 27 of Girl, Entangled

‘Probably ketamine again,’ Ripley said. ‘So he breaks into the house, ambushes the vic at an opportune time, drugs him, takes his head clean off with an axe and flees. All within what, a minute?’

‘From the time the vic came back into view, it was fifteen seconds before his head came off and the killer disappeared.’

Ripley asked, ‘Hibbert, were the doors downstairs unlocked?’

‘The back door was, yes. That’s how my guys got in.’

‘Then that’s probably how the killer got in, too.’

Ella continued, ‘And does all of this dressed up in full executioner gear. Why?’

‘For show?’ Hibbert asked. ‘He knew he was on camera.’

Ella said, ‘Yes he did, but that’s not why he wore the costume. If you look at the video, you’ll see his forearms are on show. Anyone worried about concealing their identity wouldn’t show any skin at all, even with no tattoos or birthmarks. And why would he go to the lengths to dress up in this costume? Why not just use a sweater and a mask?’

‘You tell me.’

‘Theatrics,’ Ripley said to Hibbert. ‘Our killer is acting out a fantasy, and fantasies always have very specific elements that only make sense to the perpetrator. This costume addresses a compulsion and amplifies the overall thrill.’

Hibbert stepped inside the room proper, but then retreated again once he realized he couldn’t walk anywhere without stepping in blood. ‘So, our killer’s a pervert?’

Ripley said, ‘No, that’s the one thing our killer isn’t. Perverts leave behind evidence of their perversion. These vics haven’t been sexually assaulted, and hanging and decapitation aren’t overtly sexual crimes. Lust killers stab and strangle, almost exclusively. And how old’s our victim?’

‘Thirty-five.’

‘Billy Hayes was forty-six. That’s an eleven-year difference. Lust killers don’t deviate so much. They have a type and they stick to it. Our two victims are polar opposites, by the looks of it. Not to mention that they don’t resemble each other at all.’

‘I wouldn’t know,’ Hibbert said. ‘I can’t see his face.’

Ripley had drifted to the bookshelf along the side wall, the one patch of the room she could reach without standing in remains of the dead. She tilted her head to read the spines, then drew one out with two fingers and turned it over.

‘Here’s his face,’ she said, and held up a book so Ella and Hibbert could see. Ella peered closer. It was one of the few objects in this room not sprayed with blood.

‘Eye For An Eye. Soft Justice In A Hard World. By Curtis Brennan. Host of the Watchlist.’

Ripley read the blurb and said, ‘Thirty-five years old and he’s writing books about justice. He wasn’t even alive when D.C. abolished the death penalty. I might sound old-fashioned, but you can’t have this strong of an opinion about something you didn’t live through.’

Ella decided not to mention that if Ripley’s belief was the general consensus, there’d be no such thing as historians. Now wasn’t the time for a debate. ‘What’s his book about?’

‘We should be harsher on criminals, apparently.’ Ripley leafed through the book. ‘And it’s got all the lack of nuance you’d expect. It’s the usual recycled talking points we hear every day.’

Two men. That was where Ella’s head went, while Ripley thumbed through the dead man’s book and Hibbert guarded the doorway from passing officers. The fewer people who witnessed this display, the better.

‘Do we know much else about this guy?’ she asked.

Ripley said, ‘A little too much. The guy broadcasts his life online. He runs an online channel called the Watchlist. I watched some clips while we were outside. He’s a political commenter, justice advocate sort of thing.’

‘How extreme?’ Ella asked.

‘Anyone who steals a candy bar should get the death penalty extreme.’

‘And now someone’s given him a taste of his own medicine,’ Ella said. ‘We need to dig through this guy’s life and find out if he’s got a criminal record.’

Hibbert interrupted, ‘Forensics should be here soon. We’ve got the street on lockdown, and my guys are checking local CCTV. With a guy this size, I don’t suspect we’ll have any problems spotting him.’

Ella somehow doubted that. She stepped out of the room and looked out of the window to the street below. There were three cruisers, now accompanied by a forensics van. They were going to have their work cut out for them here, and she’d be surprised if they could sweep everything before nightfall.

Ripley joined her at the window. ‘Looks like we’ve got to move our asses. Dark, you ready to get to the precinct?’